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JAY-Z is suing the woman who accused him of rape as well as her attorney Tony Buzbee weeks after Jane Doe dropped her lawsuit.
According to a report TMZ published on Monday, March 4, the rapper and entrepreneur has filed a new lawsuit against Jane Doe and Buzbee for allegedly continuing to spread her false allegations against him even though she admitted they weren't true. In legal documents, Hov's legal team claims the unidentified woman told Buzbee their client didn't assault her. Despite the retraction, Buzbee is accused of encouraging her to move "forward with the false narrative of the assault by Mr. Carter in order to leverage a maximum payday."
Buzbee initially filed the lawsuit on Jane Doe's behalf last year, in which she only claimed Sean "Diddy" Combs raped her when she was 13 during an afterparty at a mansion following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City. JAY-Z, born Shawn Carter, was named in the lawsuit a couple of months later. Not only did Hov maintain his innocence, but he also provided receipts that he was nowhere near the event at the time of the alleged crime.
In her bombshell interview with NBC News, Jane Doe stuck to her story but also admitted she made mistakes when she rehashed the alleged incident. For instance, she claimed her father picked her up at a nearby gas station after escaping from the mansion. When asked about her claim, Jane Doe's father said he couldn't remember driving five hours from their home to pick up his daughter that night.
Jane Doe and Tony Buzbee dropped the lawsuit last month. They dismissed the case with prejudice, which means the lawsuit can't be filed again. Hov believes the entire debacle was part of an "evil conspiracy" by Buzbee to score a massive settlement. Although the case is closed, Carter argues Buzbee is still trying to extort him with more false claims. In recently filed documents, Buzbee and his client now allege JAY-Z's legal team hired investigators who tried to bully her into signing an affidavit that says her allegations are false. Doe said the interaction left her spooked especially since they found out where she lives. Nonetheless, she's still sticking to her story.
"This new case alleges the same claims as the other one they pieced together and filed in Los Angeles," Buzbee told TMZ. "Like the one in L.A., this new case in Alabama also has no legal merit. Shawn Carter’s investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story. She hasn’t, and won’t. Instead she has stated repeatedly she stands by her claims."
JAY-Z filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, which is Doe's home state. He requested for the court to allow him to sue her as a Jane Doe due to her "history of mental illness and medical vulnerabilities, including instances of self-harm."